Vow and expiation money left unspent for years in a charity's account

A question from a charity that collects vows and expiations and has held some of the money for years without spending it, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that the charity is an agent forbidden to delay delivery without excuse; if delayed, the money must be delivered at once with repentance, and if lost it must be made good. ¹

A charity that collects donations for vows and expiations asked about sums that entered its account several years ago and have not been spent, and how it should deal with them. ¹

The Department answered that charities act as agents for those who owe expiations and vows in delivering them to those entitled, so those running them must hasten to do so and may not delay without excuse; the money is a trust that must be safeguarded. ¹ It cited al-Shirwani's glosses on Tuhfat al-Muhtaj, reporting from al-Tatimma that an expiation is due immediately if the broken oath was itself a sin, and al-Khatib al-Shirbini in Mughni al-Muhtaj that the recipients' need is immediate, so one who delays is sinful and liable if the money is lost. ¹ It said that an agent who delays delivering any expiation or vow without excuse is sinful and must hasten to deliver it to clear his liability, with repentance and seeking forgiveness, and is liable to make it good if it is lost through his failure. ¹ It concluded that delaying delivery of expiations and vows to those entitled without a legal excuse is forbidden; if they have been delayed, they must be delivered immediately with repentance, and if lost they must be made good. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 4029, dated 15 December 2025. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.